Sikho Nqothole defeats Charlie Edwards in IBF eliminator fight

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Charlie Edwards will return to action today, facing Sikho Nqothole in a 12-round IBF super flyweight eliminator from York Hall in London, England. Edwards (21-2, 7 KO) has dropped back down to 115 lbs after a run at 118 that saw him win the European title, but lose to Andrew Cain in March 2025, as he looks to become a two-division world champion after winning a flyweight belt in 2018. Nqothole (21-3, 13 KO) will come in the clear underdog, on the road and largely unknown, but working off of three straight wins after a competitive loss to Rene Calixto in 2024. BLH will be here with live results, discussion, and reactions, so join us this afternoon! Edwards vs Nqothole live results and reactions Sikho Nqothole def. Charlie Edwards by Unanimous decision Nqothole wins IBF super flyweight eliminator Official Scores: 116-113, 116-112, 117-111 for Nqothole BLH Unofficial Score: 116-112 for Nqothole There was real worry that the judges would job the road fighter in this one, and Edwards as always seemed to think he’d done a class job, but the judges got this right. Nqothole (22-3, 13 KO) deserved the win because Edwards (21-3, 7 KO) just did not do anything much at all for seven or eight rounds of this fight. We’ll have more on the front page, so check back soon! Dan Toward and Jak Corrie fought to a Split Draw Official Scores: 95-95, 96-94 for Corrie, 96-94 for Toward BLH Unofficial Score: 96-94 for Toward Though I edged it toward Toward (wait…), I think all three score cards were fair and I have no problem with the ultimate end result being a draw. Corrie (9-0-1, 6 KO) came in here a slight underdog, perhaps, because Toward (8-1-1, 6 KO) had so much more amateur experience and his lone pro loss seemed like “just one of those things,” sometimes a prospect runs into one as Toward did against Muzamiru Kakande about 14-and-a-half months ago. I didn’t really think either guy looked all that great in this fight or all that consistently confident. I felt, personally, that Toward just nicked it with good rounds in the 9th and 10th where he really showed his quality more than he had been, but he fought overly cautious for much of the bout. Corrie, honestly, did the same, and I would tend to agree with DAZN’s Adam Smith that both fought a bit nervously, as if they were more concerned with not losing than they were with winning. Decent chance you’ll see a rematch since nothing got settled and both could use some momentum still. Ollie Cooper def. James Osborne by TKO in Round 8 Official Time: 2:58 Cooper now has the English super middleweight title, which is a step up from the Area title he won in 2024. The 34-year-old Osborne (13-2, 3 KO) is a fun, likable fighter, a 5’8” super middleweight who is good over short distances — he’s won a pair of those one-night tournaments where the fights are three rounds max — but you could see that catch up here, as he just sort of fell apart in the eighth round, the fatigue was too serious and the 6’4” Cooper (13-0, 3 KO) just too daunting a task. But a solid fight to watch, too, and had been quite competitive. “Ozzy” Osborne gave this his best, but Cooper just had the deeper skill set and better conditioning, and even if Osborne had finished the round — he was on his feet after a second knockdown — it wasn’t going to go any other way. This was the first fight outside of his local area for Cooper, and a good one for him, obviously. The Cannock native had only ever fought professionally in his hometown or nearby Wolverhampton, so quite a nice York Hall debut in London. There’s good progression to be had domestically at super middleweight, and some worthwhile step-up opponents to see about before 2026 is out, though I probably wouldn’t rush him into someone like Callum Simpson or Troy Williamson, either. Germaine Brown or Jimmy “Kilrain” Kelly might be targets for later in the year. Tom Welland def. Saleh Kassim by Unanimous Decision Official Scores: 98-92, 99-91, 99-91 for Welland BLH Unofficial Score: 98-92 for Welland Really good fight in the four rounds or so, peppy and energetic, but that definitely wore on the veteran Kassim, who fell to 14-7-2 (7 KO) in defeat. He gave this a good go, though, and Welland (11-1, 5 KO) still has plenty to sharpen up, you could see that, but this is a good, proper bounce-back win for the 21-year-old featherweight prospect after an upset loss last September. This was Welland’s second fight since then, but the first with a live opponent, and he looks to be gelling alright with new trainer Arron Woodcock. You can see his talent, you can see that he might be a very fun action fighter in his career. You also can see the flaws, those also contribute to making him good TV. Lucas Roehrig def. Faton Tolaj by TKO in Round 2 Official Time: 1:42 Easy win for the 23-year-old Roehrig (9-0, 5 KO), a cruiserweight hopeful backed and trained by George Groves. Kosovo’s Tolaj (7-3, 5 KO) had a lot less ability than even his meager record suggests, sort of Glass Joe-ish. Roehrig easily won the first round, then hit Tolaj with a shot after the bell that put Tolaj down. Roehrig received a warning for that to start the second but it didn’t really change what was going to happen here. Tolaj got dropped in the second, and then referee Amy Pu rightly stepped in with Tolaj eating more shots. We didn’t learn a lot about Roehrig here, other than he’s miles better than this type opponent. WHAT A VICIOUS LEFT HAND TO SEAL THE WIN! 😤#EdwardsNqothole |Live NOW on DAZN ▪️ pic.twitter.com/xFWEGE96Ey — DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) May 29, 2026 How to watch Edwards vs Nqothole Start time: 2:00 pm ET (Main Card) / 12:45 pm ET (Prelims) Streaming: DAZN (subscription) Location: York Hall, London, England Edwards vs Nqothole running order Main Card – Undercard Lucas Roehrig vs Faton Tolaj, cruiserweights, 8 rounds Tom Welland vs Saleh Kassim, featherweights, 10 rounds James Osborne vs Ollie Cooper, super middleweights, 10 rounds Dan Toward vs Jak Corrie, super welterweights, 10 rounds Main Card – Main Event Charlie Edwards vs Sikho Nqothole, super flyweights, 12 rounds, IBF eliminator

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Sikho Nqothole and Charlie Edwards after their IBF eliminator at York Hall in London, England. (DAZN) | DAZN Sikho Nqothole put himself in line for an IBF title shot, beating Charlie Edwards in a super flyweight eliminator today at London’s York Hall. Nqothole (22-3, 13 KO) picked up the unanimous decision victory on scores of 116-113, 116-112, and 117-111, all of which were fair and did give Edwards (21-3, 7 KO) about as much credit as it seemed possible to give him, without any “home cooking” coming into play at all. Bad Left Hook unofficially scored the fight 116-112 for Nqothole. Former flyweight titleholder Edwards, 33, just looked too shy of seriously engaging in the fight, much as we saw against Andrew Cain in their British and Commonwealth bantamweight title fight 14 months ago. Edwards was better today than in that one, and the fight a bit more watchable, but as DAZN’s commentary noted at one point, when Nqothole wasn’t throwing punches, Edwards seemed more relieved to take a break from defending, not so much looking to do his own work. The veteran Edwards did show some signs of life here and there, indicating that there really is some skill left in his game, but that desire just doesn’t seem entirely there anymore. Nqothole didn’t get off to a blazing start in terms of fully dominating the fight, but it was tough to give Edwards more than a round or two through the first 10 of the fight, and Edwards isn’t the sort of puncher that can really pull off a late miracle, meaning there wasn’t much more drama in the late stages than seeing if the judges had given Edwards more early rounds than others felt he’d won, including Carl Frampton scoring for DAZN. “This is a good man. He’s doing it for his family and he’s doing it for his country,” Edwards said of Nqothole, before saying he hopes Nqothole goes on to win the title. “He’s a tricky fighter, a tricky operator,” Edwards said, adding that Nqothole was someone others have avoided and did not want to fight. Edwards said he’ll bounce back, ending what really was a display of class after a fight that did not go his way, for which he gave no excuses and offered no complaints. Nqothole will now await what could come next. The IBF’s No. 1 and No. 2 rankings slots were vacant before today, so this wasn’t a final eliminator. Willibaldo Garcia will go to Japan to defend the IBF 115 lb title against Andrew Moloney on neutral ground on June 6.